You might not find the motivation to burn away all that fat if you don't have the muscles to show off underneath. A well-rounded, symmetrical weightlifting program will build your muscles and make them something to be admired. Choose a split workout, or an all-body workout, and work out three to four times a week. Work all major muscle groups, and leave 48 hours between working the same muscles to prevent overtraining. Another benefit of weight training is the boost it gives your metabolism.

“Do what works for you,” Langer says. “And if something doesn’t, change it. There’s a million other ways to go about it. There are no absolutes in nutrition.” Case in point: In a 2018 JAMA study, when more 600 adults who were classified as overweight followed a low-fat or low-carb eating plan over the course of 12 months, everyone lost about the same amount of weight.

As we mentioned above, eating in a calorie deficit is key. Jim recommends eating 500 calories less than your total daily energy expenditure, or TDEE. This is the number of calories you burn in a day, which is based on factors like age, height, sex, and activity level. To calculate what this number is and what your calorie target should be to lose weight, use this formula. Just make sure you don't go below 1,200 calories a day for women; in a previous interview, Jim said eating any fewer calories than that can slow down your metabolism and result in negative side effects like low energy, loss of hair, hunger pangs, and a negative impact on your menstrual cycle.

It can actually help you cut back on calories. That's because capsaicin, a compound found in jalapeño and cayenne peppers, may (slightly) increase your body's release of stress hormones such as adrenaline, which can speed up your ability to burn calories. What's more, eating hot peppers may help slow you down. You're less likely to wolfed down that plate of spicy spaghetti — and therefore stay more mindful of when you're full. Some great adds besides hot peppers: ginger and turmeric.
If muscling up is key to shedding timber, you might as well do so efficiently. Rehash your recovery period by introducing short rest intervals within your sets. Switching your 120-second rest between sets to a 60-second intra-set break brings greater strength gains and increased power output, according to a study published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research.
"Crash diets (dramatically cutting down how much you eat) might help you to lose a few pounds at first, but they’re hard to sustain and won’t help you keep the weight off. It might seem like a quick and easy option, but eating too few calories can actually do more harm than good. If your calorie intake dips too low, your body could go into starvation mode. This will slow down your metabolism, making it harder for your body to lose weight. Make sensible, healthy changes to your lifestyle that you can stick to and avoid the fad diets."